Rudy Gobert got snubbed.
Jazz fans know it, but this isn’t a discussion on snubs.
This is a discussion on the kind of men we need in our world.
Rudy was visibly disappointed. He deserves to be. And he got emotional.
This is fabulous.
It’s vulnerable. Rudy showed us what he was truly feeling. He wasn’t trying to play it up with some tough guy routine, pretending like this didn’t matter to him. It mattered, and he let us in.
How amazing.
Let’s contrast that with a mocking tweet from Draymond Green. A simple tweet that mocked Rudy for showing emotion – for crying.
Rudy was mocked for feeling emotion.
And not only was he mocked, he was mocked on a public stage by an individual with significant influence.
How sad.
News flash. We all feel emotion. We all get our hopes up. We get disappointed. We get angry. We feel let down. Expectations aren’t met. We get sad or mad. And guess what – we cry. Real life humans cry.
Sometimes we ugly cry. Sometimes we choke back tears. And sometimes we feel like idiots for being human.
But Rudy did something remarkable – he showed us his humanity.
In our world – the one we’re living in RIGHT NOW- we need authenticity. We need vulnerability. We need strong men and women who aren’t afraid to be fierce and dominant and powerful while still having a heart and allowing themselves to feel things.
Heads are powerful. Hearts are vulnerable. And the two working together? Unstoppable.
There are so many business tie-ins, but for the moment we don’t need to talk about any of them. We need to be reminded we’re all humans. We’re all having a human experience. We’re just people supporting people. That’s what it all boils down to…. everything we do – business or otherwise – is in support of PEOPLE.
So let’s not talk business – let’s talk people. Let’s do everything we can to improve the human experience. There’s no space for tearing others down. There’s no room for mocking. There is no room for unkindness.
There IS room for love. There’s room for empathy. There’s room for compassion. There’s room for kindness.
And there’s room for emotion, whether you’re a 3 foot tall kindergartener from Utah or a 7 foot tall NBA player from France.
So Rudy, let me take this opportunity to say thank you. Thanks for being vulnerable. Thanks for being an example of a strong man who actually feels things. And thanks for being one of my favorite basketball players. You’re a dream to watch. You’re my kind of player. And I’m so grateful that the man behind the athlete is just as strong, dominant, inspiring, and human.
